Last Halloween I was out to here (hand waaay in front of your stomach) pregnant and thought I might even have a Halloween baby. I certainly didn't picture spending Georgia's first Halloween in the hospital but I have to admit, they do just about everything possible to help you forget where you are... there was ghost bowling, pumpkin bean bag toss, trick-or-treating throughout the floor, face painting and just about everyone was dressed up.

With fellow ladybug Ashlyn

Me & my tired bug

With some of our favorite nurses

Nana came all dressed up!

Grammy & Grandpa came too

Georgia & Grandpa won the cake walk!

I am simply beyond words, I don't know how to thank all of you who participated in the Leukemia/Lymphoma 5K today on.. TEAM GEORGIA! To my dear friend Megan who did an amazing job organizing this I can't even begin to express what you mean to me. I am blown away by everyone who participated - there were buttons and signs, this is such wonderful support. When Megan started putting all of this together she asked me what Georgia's favorite color was.. purple, I thought... yeah, purple. A day later I got an email from my dad on a totally unrelated subject telling me that purple was the cancer survivor color... that's right! We can't wait to participate next year!

Team Picture

Julie & Megan in the team color

Family & Friends

Go Team Georgia

Michelle, Nat & Megan

Today was a better day. It's amazing how the sight of good friends and a sister can completely change your attitude... well that and the cutest little ladybug in town. Georgia had a really good day today, no anti-nausea medication, in fact no medication whatsoever! We were unhooked from her IV for eight hours and took the opportunity to give her Halloween costume a test run. She was extra giggly and I was thrilled to see her really putting weight on both of her legs. All of a sudden she is moving around and willing to use her left leg much more... it was a good day.

They don't come cuter than this

Big stander

It's hard work being this cute!

I am wishing I'd never heard the term AML Jail, I suddenly feel the need to escape this place! This morning the doctors did their normal rounds then shortly after we were hooked up for Georgia's second blood transfusion. We did our normal roaming the small hallways and saying hello to everyone and played on the mats of our "studio apartment." Nana Kathye was here today so I was able to get outside, I walked to a grocery store that is about five blocks from the hospital, that is the furthest I have been in nearly a month. It felt good to breath in some fresh air but I think it made me all the more frustrated that this is what we're calling home. I am sick of this place, I don't want to get in an elevator before I can take a shower (parents have to go to another floor) I want to go outside with Georgia to show her the fall colors, I want to have a glass of wine while I cook dinner, I want to not be sitting here in the dark on the computer.. I want to go home and be done with this whole nightmare. Instead we're in the beginning phase, albeit done with a big scary portion but we have a long road ahead of us.
I talked with attending oncologist today about different scenarios based on what they see after doing an MRI in a couple of weeks... hopefully the tumor is just gone but if not they may do a PET scan to see if anything left is scar tissue or live tumor cells, if chemo needed to continue there is a chance that we could do some low dose outpatient stuff but it will all just depend on what they see. I was happy to hear her say that the goal is to NOT do another round of the AML therapy.

At midnight tonight Georgia will get her last dose of chemo for AML. The past 10 days have been quite a journey and I am feeling relieved to be at the tail end of this chapter.. we are now going into a phase that the nurses affectionately call "AML Jail." This is the phase where we watch her white blood cell and ANC levels drop to zero then start to rebuild, this is the phase where Georgia will simply not have an immune system. The jail part is because we are not allowed to leave the SCCA unit, so we are here to just wait. Although this will be our last dose of chemo the next week is still a sensitive time as her body will still be dealing with the side effects of this treatment, we will be watching for mouth sores, fevers and any sign of infection.

I am so glad that I won't have to watch the nurses suit up in their chemo garb putting on a mask to cover their mouth that has a plastic shield to protect their eyes.. this while they are accessing a line that is connected directly to my baby's chest.

The next couple of weeks will tell us which direction we will head next, once her ANC level is back to 200 she will have an MRI on her leg to see if the tumor is gone.. if it is and we have a donor match we will prepare for transplant. If we are going straight to transplant it is my understanding that we will go home for a couple of weeks but staying in close contact with the SCCA to do a battery of tests. If the tumor is still sizable they will likely want us to do another round of the AML treatment which would mean going home for a few days then essentially repeating what we've just done.

Georgia continues to amaze me.. her weight is up, she hasn't been sick in days and she has doctors coming by just to see her wave and smile. She is comfortable here now, she doesn't cry at the sight of a nurse, she is easily distracted during daytime vitals and will most of the time sleep though the nighttime vitals. This eases my stress and makes me sad all at the same time.

Our portable in room "spa"

We are use to people continually coming in our room day and night but this morning we were visited by the charge nurse asking our permission to be a part of a documentary that Children's is filming on safety. The camera crew was following our nurse throughout the day and wanted to show her unhooking Georgia from her IV pole and weighing her.. I said sure, why not mix things up a little. Georgia took a good nap and woke up about 15 minutes before it all began. I wasn't sure how she'd react, she is much more comfortable with the staff now but still doesn't like people messing with her IV or hickman. Our nurse came in and was followed by a man with a decent size camera, Georgia looked and waved. Once the nurse started to unhook her line from the IV Georgia glanced at what she was doing, looked at the camera pointed at it, smiled and started waving - such a ham! When I set her in the scale she just stared at the camera smiling the whole time, once her weight registered she started clapping - ha! Needless to say she got a lot of compliments on doing such a good job in on camera debut.

In other news, Brian is heading back to work tomorrow but is staying at home tonight. He was at home for two nights earlier this week because he thought he might be getting sick, this gave me a trial run with him not actually being out of town. Tonight after we finished eating and playing Georgia and I walked him to the big double doors at the entrance of the SCCA unit Georgia kept pointing at the doors, she wanted to go too. I told her soon, soon we'd all be walking out together. Brian hit the button and both doors opened, we waiting on one side while he was on the other waiting for the elevator.. he kept hitting the button so the doors kept swinging open... I kept telling Georgia to wave but she just looked at him with a serious face, this made me need to swallow hard, put on a brave face and tell her we'd be alright and he'd be back soon.

What is healthy? As we make our way into cold and flu season I have started to ask around.. what is considered healthy enough for the SCCA unit of Children's Hospital. A lot of the kids here simply don't have an immune system so what may just be a little tickle in your throat is a big deal to someone around here. Brian has actually spent the last couple of days at our house for just that reason. The nurses have told us that anyone coming to this floor should be 100% symptom free for at least a week.. this is for an individual and household.
There is nothing more I would love than to have visitors all of the time but I have put my wants on the back burner for Georgia's safety. This is a fine line to walk for someone like me who is both social and far from a germ-a-phobe. I have told several of the nurses that I'll need training before going home on what is ok for the typical teething, puts everything in her mouth Georgia and the new germ free (or close to it) way of life.